At Home Typing Work

If you consider providing secretarial or typing services, you’ve probably wondered what the difference is between a secretarial service business and a virtual assistant business.

These terms are often interchanged. Busy professionals, businesses, and entrepreneurs are using secretarial services and virtual assistants for the same reasons:

- They need help with administrative work, office support services, routine tasks, and other time-consuming projects.
- They don’t want to hire a full-time in-house secretary and provide employee benefits, office space and equipment.
- They don’t have time to do all the work themselves and use outside help to take some of the workload off their shoulders.

Here are some similarities between secretarial services and VAs:

- They provide administrative support to businesses and entrepreneurs and a variety of office support services that may include typing, word processing, data entry, Internet research, email services, correspondence, and clerical tasks typically performed by an office secretary.
- They are self-employed entrepreneurs and independent contractors.
- They work from their own office and use their own equipment.

By using the Internet, email, phone, and mailing services, businesses can outsource any work that can be done from a remote location, and virtual assistants and secretarial services can assist businesses from anywhere in the world.

What are the differences between a secretarial service operator and a virtual assistant?

- Secretarial services are perceived as typists and word processors. VAs are portrayed as highly skilled and trained professionals.
- Secretarial services are typically providing typing, word processing, data entry and other office support services. In addition to typical secretarial services, VAs often provide specialized services. These may include graphic design, web design, bookkeeping, realtor assistance, writing, event planning, and programming. The services VAs and secretarial services can provide are endless depending upon their knowledge and skills.
- Secretarial services were traditionally working with local clients but today they are also working with distance clients and can therefore call themselves virtual assistants. Most VAs assist both local and long-distance clients.
- In the past, clients dropped off work to secretarial services but today they often work through email, phone, fax and mail. VAs get work assignments through the Internet, telephone, fax, and email.
- VAs need a web site, must be Internet savvy, and must be proficient with Internet marketing to promote their services online and get nationwide and global clients.

Your prospective clients often interchange the terms secretarial services and virtual assistant depending on their industry, location, country, and cultural background.

Secretarial services can present themselves as virtual assistants to provide a wider range of services and reach a larger market. If you are working or are planning to work with long-distance clients, you can call yourself a VA. You can even consider a local client “virtual” if you don’t meet regularly. If you want to be perceived as a skilled office support professional instead of a typist, start calling yourself a VA. But if you want to provide typing services only, call yourself a word processing service.

If you’re not sure if you want to start a secretarial service or become a virtual assistant, consider starting as a secretarial business. It’s easier to get local clients. To get long-distance clients, you’ll have to promote yourself online. Internet advertising can be costly and requires a steep learning curve.

Your prospects may be searching the Internet for different keywords depending on their needs. Their searches may include the keywords secretarial service, secretary, typist, word processor, VA, virtual assistant, administrative assistant, or transcriptionist. Make sure to mention your location in your search engine advertising as business owners prefer working with local people when available. When promoting your services, use whatever terms your clients are using.

The best solution? Incorporate both the keywords secretarial and VA services in your business name so you can expand your business nationwide when you’re ready.

Looking for legitimate work at home?  Find out how to start a secretarial service or become a virtual assistant.  Free report: Avoid typing and data entry scams.
Visit http://www.typing-and-data-entry-scams.com

 By Leva Duell 

Are you interested in freelance typing, transcription or secretarial work but don’t know how to get work? Are you afraid of home business scams?

The Internet has facilitated working from home. Modern technology such as email, cell phones, and fax machines makes it easy to communicate with employers. Work is often delivered through email or mailed by Priority mail and other specialized mailing services. Anyone with a computer, internet connection and computer skills can now telecommute, work from home and provide freelance services for global entrepreneurs and business owners.

You can find an abundance of at home jobs and freelance work at home on the internet. But online home work opportunities demand close scrutiny. Although many web sites provide legitimate work at home, many are scams. Be skeptical, educate yourself on how to avoid scams, and learn to distinguish work at home scams from legitimate work at home.

Avoid Ads That Promise Easy Money

Avoid enticing ads promising “easy money” and “no experience necessary” home work and vague offers that don’t explain what work you’ll be doing from home or what information you’ll be getting.
Medical transcription provides legitimate work from home but you have to know medical terminology. And to make a good living from medical transcription, you have to be able to transcribe or type fast and set up shortcuts.

To provide secretarial services or VA services, you need to have a decent knowledge of a major word processing program like Word, have typing skills and good spelling and grammar skills.
Here are some ways to find legitimate work from home

• Ask your current or previous employers for at home work. Your employer already knows you and knows your experience and skills.

• Consider starting your own business. Look for a home-based business that matches your skills, experience, and interests. This is the best way to create at home work.

• Provide freelance services. Look at freelance job boards like Elance and Guru.

• Check classified ads sites like Craigslist an others who list thousands of telecommuting and work at home jobs.

Freelance work is often associated with freelance writing but today you can provide a wide range of freelance services from home. Analyze your experience and skills when considering what freelance work or home business is right for you. What skills do you already have that you could use in a home business? What skills did you use in previous jobs? Do you have computer, accounting, graphic design, word processing or secretarial experience? Start a home business around those skills!

Here are some freelance services you can provide from home if you have typing skills: home-based secretarial services, virtual assistant or VA services, medical transcription from home. Secretarial services often provide business transcription or legal transcription if they have worked in the legal or paralegal field.

If you have basic Web design skills, you can start an internet business. Popular internet businesses include promoting affiliate programs and selling on eBay.

The possibilities to provide freelance services and work from home are endless. Be creative.